Best Cities in U.S. for Multipitch/Trad

Reno, NV. Estes Park, CO. Leavenworth, WA.

JCM wrote:Boulder: It's the cliched response for a reason: it fits the OP's interests exactly. It's a small city with a lot going on, and the access to multipitch trad climbing-year round- is excellent and very convenient. The scene and the culture aren't for everyone, but if you embrace the quirks you just may love it there. If the Boulder scene gets you down, check out Fort Collins and/or Golden, which offer great climbing access and a mellower vibe.

I would argue that Boulder has mostly outgrown it's stereotype, it's much more mellow than, say the early 2000's when it was a more pretentious and sunnier Portland. I live in East Boulder, and I find it to be a much more relaxed place to live than either Golden or Ft. Collins. I may be tarred and feathered for encouraging someone else to move here. But clichéd answers are generally accurate as JCM said, it fits the OP's criteria to a T

SLC. I came here 5 years ago. Tried to leave. 6 months later I missed it so much I came back. Not often I can be at the parking lot 15 mins after leaving work for quality multi pitch climbing. Are there other places? Sure, but it is really hard to beat the access.

Plus great skiing, biking, hiking, mountaineering.

Air quality. Around 20 days a year we hit the poor quality days.

Great people in the outdoor scene.

Mormons? I became one, they aint so bad. If anything you have Sundays to yourself and get lots of free cookies from neighbors. SLC is diverse enough you wont be bugged.

3 hrs from Moab, Zion and City of Rocks. 6 hrs from Ouray, Vegas. 10 hrs from Yosemite, Black Hills.

Great suggestions on this thread.

Tahoe Bro! you got Donner Summit and Lover's Leap for day trip cragging. Then you have access to the ENTIRE Sierra Nevada and Yosemite. No better spot for a trad climber.

JCM wrote:Like most MP threads, this one has a lot of scattered advice, some good, some bad. I'm better-traveled than most at this point, and have experience with most of the towns mentioned, either from visiting or having lived there. Here's a brief commentary of various towns, in no particular order:

As others have noted, JCM hit it on the head. I'm from Asheville NC and now live in SLC and have traveled, lived, and/or climbed in most of the places people are listing. In addition to the town and climbing breakdowns, you may want to consider your preferences for the general region you are in, especially being from Tennessee, and especially if you'll likely be living in your next area for a long time. By "region", I mean eastern deciduous forest (and/or Atlantic Ocean access), western Rockies vibe, southwestern desert, Northwest forest/mountains/rain, Califor-ni-ay, etc. I think that many people may not love living in some of these areas. For me, the main one that comes to mind is the SW desert. I love to visit and climb there, but living there would make me depressed - growing up in the forest in Asheville, I just end up missing trees. SLC has enough trees to keep me happy. I know that many people are opposite of me about the desert: they absolutely love living in the desert and don't like living in forest like you get back east. Also, for me, to a lesser degree, the pacific NW is so rainy that, when I'm living there for long enough, I end up missing the sun (even though I'm not normally a sun worshipper). Again, others love it there. In addition to having some trees around, I love the big western mountain ranges (Rockies, Sierra, etc) and really miss them when living back east.

All just examples, but I think it makes sense to think about your experiences in the different areas of the country, and what you think you love living in, vs stuff that might be harder.

Anyone have any thoughts on Bishop?

Patrick Gillespie wrote:Anyone have any thoughts on Bishop?

Yes.

Patrick Gillespie wrote:Anyone have any thoughts on Bishop?

Not for multipitch trad climbing. Am I wrong?

Bishop has a lifetime of multipitch trad. Have you ever heard of a mountain range called the Sierra's? Yes you are very wrong.

Bishop is an awesome spot that meets the criteria. I lived there for 4 years and I miss it daily. The food scene is dismal and the city is pretty minimal (which can add to the charm as you will always run into people you know). The one reason I left was the job market, if you are looking for a place to settle in you need to have something to bring to the table (teacher, geologist, engineer....) unless you want to work in the service industry. It is isolated as well, which some people can't hang with. And it's size can make the climbing scene feel overbearing at times.

I would move back tomorrow if the lady friend was done with school. There is a lifetime of climbing even if you never left the boulder fields.

The NW has a lot of cool little towns but a majority of the climbing is at cool little crags. There are of course exceptions like Darrington, Index, Leavonworth, Squamish.

bradyk wrote:Bishop has a lifetime of multipitch trad. Have you ever heard of a mountain range called the Sierra's? Yes you are very wrong.

Really? Filtering MP on the California eastern Sierra's show around 230 trad routes. Pine Creek canyon comes to mind as a place to trad climb near Bishop, but it's not a lifetime and it's not multipitch, not long ones anyway.

Maybe there are some secret walls that only locals know about?

OLDSAG, really. Hell, Temple Crag has at least five multi-pitch trad routes. I've done two of them. Just up trail is even more trad stuff. Sun Ribbon Arete on Temple Crag must have at least 15 pitches itself.

Within two hours driving from Bishop is Whitney Portal...but I hear that's all one pitch sport stuff (sarcasim turned on!)

Plus Lover's Leap isn't too far. You mentioned over 200 trad climbs on MP for Bishop area. Most of that multi-pitch is really multi-pitch, with real trad approaches.

OLDSAG, you are blowing smoke up our asses if you think Bishop isn't a great place for multi-pitch trad.

MP covers a small amount of what is out there. I feel the same is true for most of the areas that I have visited. Joshua Tree is a good example, the bouldering guide has around 2000 problems, in actuality it is probably closer to 3000 and MP only has 888.

JCM wrote:Lastly, I should note that what the OP is looking for might be best served by going a bit smaller, and looking at cool little mountain towns instead of small cities...if the little towns are tolerable from an economic, social, and cultural perspective. Carbondale (CO), Truckee (CA), New Paltz (NY), Lake Placid (NY), Estes Park (CO), Leavenworth (WA...bring lederhosen), Ouray/Ridgway (CO), Moab (UT), and Bishop/Mammoth (CA) are all worth considering. Good luck finding employment, though, unless you are a nurse or programmer.

Thank you for taking the time to post a thorough and humorous reply with excellent information. :)

Tradster wrote:OLDSAG, really. Hell, Temple Crag has at least five multi-pitch trad routes. I've done two of them. Just up trail is even more trad stuff. Sun Ribbon Arete on Temple Crag must have at least 15 pitches itself. Within two hours driving from Bishop is Whitney Portal...but I hear that's all one pitch sport stuff (sarcasim turned on!) Plus Lover's Leap isn't too far. You mentioned over 200 trad climbs on MP for Bishop area. Most of that multi-pitch is really multi-pitch, with real trad approaches. OLDSAG, you are blowing smoke up our asses if you think Bishop isn't a great place for multi-pitch trad.

Not to turn this into a pissing contest but I didn't find what Whitney had to offer was any good either. Did some routes there, found them to be "meh".

Never been to Temple. But 5 x 20 pitches surely lasts a lifetime! Plus I have heard it is chossy.

Lover's leap? Well, then you might as well live in Tahoe, not bishop.

I'm sure Ownes is great, so is the bouldering in bishop, but trad? For a lifetime? Not sure about that.

I'd take Bishop over anything that I've got here though.

O.L.D.S.A.G. wrote: Not to turn this into a pissing contest but I didn't find what Whitney had to offer was any good either. Did some routes there, found them to be "meh". Never been to Temple. But 5 x 20 pitches surely lasts a lifetime! Plus I have heard it is chossy. Lover's leap? Well, then you might as well live in Tahoe, not bishop. I'm sure Ownes is great, so is the bouldering in bishop, but trad? For a lifetime? Not sure about that. I'd take Bishop over anything that I've got here though.

Yeah, there's no great multi-pitch, sweet Sierra granite near Bishop. Or in the Whitney Portal area. Or Pine Creek Canyon. Or Cardinal Pinnacle. Nothin' to see here folks. Keep moving along...

FrankPS wrote: Yeah, there's no great multi-pitch, sweet Sierra granite near Bishop. Or in the Whitney Portal area. Or Pine Creek Canyon. Or Cardinal Pinnacle. Nothin' to see here folks. Keep moving along...

Nah, I'm not saying there isn't great climbing, or there isn't great multipitch trad climbing, but enough to last a LIFETIME? Within a two hour drive?

Cardinal is small. Hardly a lifetime's worth.
PCC - 200 something routes. Some not multipitch. Say 100 routes are. How many weekends is that?
Whitney - same thing as PCC.

Anything else?

O.L.D.S.A.G. wrote: Not to turn this into a pissing contest but I didn't find what Whitney had to offer was any good either. Did some routes there, found them to be "meh". Never been to Temple. But 5 x 20 pitches surely lasts a lifetime! Plus I have heard it is chossy. Lover's leap? Well, then you might as well live in Tahoe, not bishop. I'm sure Ownes is great, so is the bouldering in bishop, but trad? For a lifetime? Not sure about that. I'd take Bishop over anything that I've got here though.

Yeah sure OLDSAG....I doubt you've ever done more than one or two multi-pitch climbs anywhere near Bishop. Temple Crag isn't chossy...I've climbed on it, but you know so much more from second-hand info. Here's some advice, get your butt out and do some Sierra multi-pitch climbs rather than just make a fool of yourself, which your previous post do suggest you are. From other's posts, they seem not overly impressed with your anti-Sierra bias.

The Incredible Hulk, Bear Creek, Lone Pine Peak area, Minarets, Toulumne, the valley......

Tradster wrote: Yeah sure OLDSAG....I doubt you've ever done more than one or two multi-pitch climbs anywhere near Bishop. Temple Crag isn't chossy...I've climbed on it, but you know so much more from second-hand info. Here's some advice, get your butt out and do some Sierra multi-pitch climbs rather than just make a fool of yourself, which your previous post do suggest you are. From other's posts, they seem not overly impressed with your anti-Sierra bias.

I love the Sierras! What are you talking about. Whitney portal is not the entire Sierras.